DA: Garrido hearing must be in El Dorado County
By Martha Bellisle, Reno Gazette-Journal
The prosecutor in the Jaycee Dugard kidnapping case said in a motion released Wednesday that a February hearing to determine whether Phillip Garrido is competent to stand trial must be kept in El Dorado County.
Garrido has been evaluated by three mental health experts, and reports from at least two will be the subject of his competency trial before a jury, set to begin Feb. 28.
At Garrido’s last hearing on Jan. 6, his lawyer, Susan Gellman, said she had not yet decided whether she will ask the court to move the hearing to another county to ensure a fair and impartial jury will consider the question of competency.
As of Wednesday, Gellman had not filed a change-of-venue motion.
But El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson said during that hearing that he filed his document opposing any proposed change just in case Gellman decides to try to move the trial outside Placerville.